Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. This is for many people an important day in the Christian year. Strange things happen. I heard a story about the daughter of a colleague of mine who had just started at a new school in the Catholic tradition. She was surprised when the whole school had ash put on their heads as part of a service. She had not been warned! Sometimes we see notices that invite people to come as a ‘day of obligation’. Sometimes people beat themselves up; ‘I am a bad Christian’ said one to me yesterday. And for me? I am wary of the tradition of ‘giving up something’ associated with Lent, because I am very prone to become demoralised when I fail to keep that ‘good resolution’. So, what does all this mean?
Yesterday in the Chaplaincy, I put on an event for reflection with the psalms. Three of the people who came were students on campus. I asked them what they understood by Ash Wednesday. The reply came that it was a day to pause and revaluate one’s life, and reset our ‘living parameters’.
Psalm 19 is a helpful reflection:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech,
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
I imagine the writer [David] has just come in from seeing the most glorious sunset, or a night sky that is cloudless and moonless - so a white blaze of stars. The writer sits down to praise the God who, he believes, created this wonder. As you see, the first six verses are a kind of reverie. And then it is as if he pauses and begins to reflect on the qualities of the God he has just praised. You will see in verses 7-9, that there are no adjectives – these qualities are 100 per cent perfect. He goes on to confirm in verse 10, that they are beyond price.
And then, I imagine, the writer sees that in that light of perfection, he is a shade of grey. He realises that he must do things wrong of which he is not aware; ‘forgive my hidden thoughts’. Then, finally, he accepts the plain truth (persona put to one side) that there are things that he does knowingly wrong. And so, he concludes in verse 13 with the phrase: “may my wilful sins not rule over me, then I will be blameless”. Then there is another pause before verse 14. I think the writer realises that he has been guided by the spirit to a good and honest reflection.
This, I believe, is the deep meaning of Lent.
Nigel Rawlinson
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